To embrace a corpse : American diplomacy and the Greek War of Independence, 1821-1833

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to examine the primary reasons for the refusal of the United States to grant diplomatic recognition to the revolutionary government in Greece between 1821-1833. The generally accepted reason has been the Monroe Doctrine. This policy statement by James Monroe in 1823 seemed to preclude any form of diplomatic recognition of the provisional government in Greece by the United States because the Greek Revolution was a European affair. If the American government were to prevent intervention in the Western Hemisphere by the European powers, then certainly the United States should not interfere in an area of primary concern to the Holy Alliance.President Monroe's words in his annual message to Congress were a statement of existing American policy and the principles should not be ignored entirely. However, it is the thesis of this paper that the desire for a commercial treaty with the Ottoman Empire was more significant in the development of American policy toward the Greek War of Independence. The expansion of American trade and commerce were goals of a government that practiced commercial diplomacy. The government of the United States sought in this particular case more trade in the Eastern Mediterranean and the right to navigate the waters of the Black Sea. A treaty with the Ottoman Empire was the key to this goal.To prove this thesis it was necessary to demonstrate that the menace from European powers, or the Holy Alliance, was minimal because those powers were too divided to pose a credible deterrent to American diplomatic recognition of Greece. Chapter one is devoted to a discussion of the European diplomatic situation with particular emphasis on the collapse of the Congress System and the "Eastern Question". Both bore direct bearing on American decisions concerning the Greek Revolution.The next chapter attempts to demonstrate that the United States had direct and serious involvement in the Eastern Mediterranean. Since 1794 the United States had sought commercial advantages in the Levant, indeed, part of America's colonial legacy had been involvement in the Mediterranean trade. In addition to commerce, missionary activity, scholarly concern, and America's democratic heritage drew Americans to the Levant. By the time of the Greek Revolution the United States had bountiful interests in the Ottoman Empire. There were expectations of further advances in many quarters.The United States' response to the Greek Revolution between 1821-1833 is the subject of chapter three. America was divided between the philhellenes who advocated aid and recognition for Greece and those who did not wish to antagonize the Ottoman Empire and thereby lose commercial advantages in the Levant. This was the central issue in the debates on the Greek Question in the eighteenth Congress. Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, led the fight against the philhellene position so as not to jeopardize his secret attempts to secure a commercial treaty with the Ottoman Empire.The negotiations between representatives of the United States and Turkey, conducted in secret throughout the Greek Revolution, is the subject of chapter four. Only after the conclusion of the American-Turkish Treaty of Commerce did the United States grant diplomatic recognition to an already independent Greek nation. A commercial treaty with Turkey, a dying empire, in order to foster the expansion of American trade was the crucial determinant of American policy toward the Greek War of Independence.